Increasing demand for bio-based products, especially in Europe, and rising consumer awareness in developing countries is anticipated to drive the global microbial surfactants market. Additionally, favorable regulatory outlook in developed countries is estimated to fuel market growth in the next few years. However, high prices of microbial surfactants vis-à-vis plant-derived and synthetic counterparts are projected to hamper market growth. The application of microbial biosurfactants in the environmental sector is likely to offer immense opportunities in the global microbial biosurfactants market during the forecast period.

Sophorolipids emerged as the largest microbial biosurfactants in 2012, accounting for 54% of the global market in 2012. These are the most preferred surfactants for commercialization due to high production yields. These are expected to be the fastest growing microbial surfactants during the forecast period. MEL is in the nascent stage, with low volume of production. Rhamnolipids are the second-largest microbial surfactants consumed globally. These surfactants are widely used in enhanced oil recovery, biopesticides and bioremediation.

Household detergents emerged as the leading application in the microbial biosurfactants market in 2012. Consumers are shifting from synthetic chemical-based products to bio-based products due to increasing environmental awareness. The personal care application segment emerged as the second-largest application of the total microbial biosurfactants market and is expected to reach USD 2.39 million by 2020. The demand of microbial surfactants for oil field, agriculture applications is expected to grow at a moderate rate during the forecast period.

Europe dominated the global microbial surfactants market in 2012, accounting for 54.7% of the overall market. Europe dominates the consumption of microbial biosurfactants due to stringent regulations regarding usage of bio-based products. It is expected to be the fastest growing region during the forecast period. Europe was followed by North America, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.6% in terms of demand, from 2014 to 2020. Asia Pacific is anticipated to grow at a considerable rate due to increasing consumer awareness for bio-based products. Rest of the World (RoW) accounted for a smaller share of the market owing to less consumer awareness and high prices of products.

The global microbial surfactants market is highly consolidated, with the top three players accounting for 60.9% of the overall market in 2012. Leading players in the market include MG Intobio, Ecover, Saraya, Soliance, AGAE Technologies and Jeneil Biotech.